Double amputee Oscar Pistorius (featured previously at Neatorama) has won an appeal and will compete to qualify for the Beijing Olympics.

The 21-year-old, who runs on specially adapted carbon fibre blades after having his legs amputated below the knee when he was 11 months old, saw the ban imposed by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

The 400m runner was barred from all competitions involving able-bodied athletes because of claims that the artificial legs he uses give him an unfair advantage.

"Today, I can pursue my dream of competing in the Olympic Games. If it's not for Beijing, it will be for London in 2012," said the South African, nicknamed 'Bladerunner'.

The South African runner still has an uphill battle. His personal best time for the 400 meter is 46.46 seconds. To qualify for the Olympic team, he must beat 45.95 seconds. http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hWOS0zFQ_pdZfYBsxOqrx0VAjchw -via YesButNoButYes

There’s a fascinating article explaining the "advantages" of the Cheetah prosthetic limbs Pistorius uses at Cocktail Party Physics (after the first couple of paragraphs). Link